Ancestry
by redgrass-and-silvertrees
Summary: While waiting at a train station on their endless journey, the Elric brothers become a little more acquainted with the origin of their golden appearance and their ancient ancestry. One-shot


**If I owned this series I probably wouldn't cry over it.**

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The Fullmetal Alchemist and his younger brother stood at the train station awaiting their departure. It was familiar scene for both boys as they were travelling from the East back to Central to report what they'd learned to Colonel Mustang. Edward impatiently checked his pocket watch noting with distain that the train was late by a good ten minutes. This is why he hated travelling out in the country. But other than a delayed train, everything was perfectly normal.

"Excuse me son, might I have a word?" A man from behind asked with near manic glee when Edward turned around eyeing him suspiciously.

"I know you; you're the absentminded guy who ran into me as we left the hotel. You're not stalking me are you?" He asked taking a step or two back while his much larger brother took a protective stance. The man jumped and weakly held up his hands while his glasses slid a bit down his nose giving Ed a fairly decent view of his eyes. He blinked in surprised recognition.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm not a stalker. It's just, when I ran into you a bit earlier I noticed your rather unusual hair and eye color and well I got a bit excited." The man took a moment to straighten his glasses and comb back his blond hair. "I'm a historian you see but a very specific historian, my research lies in the lost desert country of Xerxes." Edward hummed and relaxed his suspicious stance a little.

"You mean that place that was supposedly wiped out in a single night? So what's that got to do with us?" The man bobbed his head up and down, continuing to grin.

"Yes and it's not a myth. Numerous sources say the country, a large prosperous country, vanished literally overnight without explanation but not all of it's people did. There were a few citizens, maybe a few hundred at most, who were outside the borders at the time of the disaster and went on to lead long lives after the city fell. Now you may not know this young man but, like Ishbalans, Xerxians had a very distinctive coloring which was a vibrant golden hair and eye color." At this Edward and Alphonse exchanged curious looks.

"Just like brother and I," Al said stating the obvious with a subdued sort of confusion as if his mind was far away. The historian adjusted his glasses as he turned to give the armor a startled look.

"Oh you too? And you're brothers? And you share your brother's coloring?" He asked with excitement. Al cleared his throat awkwardly as he usually did when strangers mentioned his body. Edward averted his guiltily.

"Erm well yes, my hair is a bit darker than Brother's but pretty much the same." The man's eyes lit up either ignoring or not noticing the uncomfortable look the two boys were giving him as he continued on.

"Oh this is most interesting because you see, the few Xerxians who survived lived hundreds of years ago. They probably integrated with the population passing on the trait but over time the coloring has become more and more diluted as it mixed with other blood. Because of this, those traits are no longer present in the population except in tiny remnants. One of my ancestor came from Xerxes and, as you can see, while I have traces of the gold coloring it's not quite like yours. I can tell you right now I've met many people with Xerxian blood in them but none as strongly as you do. It looks like you could have existed in that long dead society." Edward shuffled on feet at the awkward praise. He was used to being singled out for his alchemic prowess or his age or even his damnable height but having his physical appearance studied was a bit weird. He looked over with a small sigh of relief to see their train arriving.

"Look, that's great and all but I don't know what to tell you. I don't know anything about Xerxes or ancestors or whatever, this is just how we look. You don't need to make such a big deal out of it. Now, if you don't mind, we've got a train to catch." Edward said curtly reaching down to grab his suitcase as the train doors opened. The historian, who Ed grudgingly admitted did sorta have some similar features, flailed and reached out to him.

"But wait, don't you want to know where you came from?" Edward snorted as he hopped on the train followed quickly by Alphonse.

"Not really, what's the big deal in getting all caught up in the past. Last time I let that happen, I just about lost everything. Sorry we couldn't be of more help, good luck with whatever it is you're doing." The train door slammed shut and the man watched them go with no small amount of disappoint in his hazel eyes. On the train, Edward was still shifting uncomfortably over the conversation which he covered with lots of complaints.

"You didn't have to be so rude Brother," Al said quietly. "We could have talked to him a little longer, maybe he knew about da-"

"I don't care about that Al, I don't care about anything to do with him. If that bastard came from that culture then I'm going to stay as far away from it as possible. I don't want anything to do with him." Ed snapped before turning to look out the window. After a moment, he huffed angrily. "It's bad enough I have to look like him, I don't care to know any more." Al watched his brother fume for a little while longer before pulling out one of the books and beginning to read quietly.

Of course the two boys didn't know that their father was immortal, that he had walked the deserts of Xerxes when the country had been thriving and prosperous. They didn't know that they were half-Xerxian and that their blood, and thus their coloring, was so rare that it hardly existed elsewhere in the world. Even more so that their father's nature was directly related to the massive conspiracy they were on their way to uncovering. Perhaps if they had talked to the expert in Xerxian lore a bit longer then they might have pieced together a few things about their absent father and been able to connect the dots even sooner.

But, of course, Edward didn't care.

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Ed and Al are the last remnants of a race that died centuries ago. They are the survivors of a massacre worse than what happened in Ishval. And it's never even mentioned. I mostly just wanted someone to acknowledge that their unique coloring is Xerxian. It's also a personal belief of mine that some Xerxians escaped the transmutation by being out of the country, they fled to the then fledgling state of Amestris where they integrated. The golden hair and eyes faded over time but they are responsible for the high proportion of blondes in the country. Sorry! Also, for those curious, this is the last FMA fic I had lined up. I still have a few more ideas I'd like to write but _Detective Conan_ and _Danny Phantom_ have me in it's grips right now and I really should be writing for my _Doctor Who_ collection. We shall see! Thanks for sticking with all my FMA stories, we'll see if any more are forthcoming.


End file.
